A study of the Buddha’s biographies in the Vinaya Piṭaka: centered on the Chinese translations of the four complete Vinayas

Abstract

ABSTRACT The Buddha’s biographies in the Vinaya Piṭaka are mainly found in the ‘Grantha [Section] on Receiving the Precepts’ of the Tāmraparṇīya Vinaya, Four-Part Vinaya and Five-Part Vinaya. Each of these has its own Buddha’s biographical accounts, forming the Buddha’s biographical motif in the Vinaya Piṭaka. The Buddha’s biographies in the Vinaya Piṭaka are descriptions of the Buddha’s life that occurred during the establishment of the precepts. As such, these biographical accounts are concise and simple, and not develop into biographies that are systematic with distinct layers and clear motifs. The fragmented Buddha’s biographical accounts in the Vinaya Piṭaka can be seen as a transition from the Āgama Buddha’s biographies to the Buddha’s biographies of Mahāyāna Buddhism, and were the foundation for later biographies.